The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 4 of 9]

Fal. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do [3161]
come in my way, so: if he do not, if I come in his willingly,[3162]55
let him make a carbonado of me. I like not such grinning
honour as Sir Walter hath: give me life: which if I can
save, so; if not, honour comes unlooked for, and there's an
end. [Exit.

Scene IV. Another part of the field.

Alarum. Excursions. Enter the King, the Prince, Lord John of Lancaster, and Earl of Westmoreland.[3163]

King. I prithee,[3164]
Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much.[3164][3165]
Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.[3164]

Lan. Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.

Prince. I beseech your majesty, make up,[3166]5
Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.[3167]

King. I will do so.[3168]
My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.[3168]

West. Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent.[3169]

Prince. Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help:10
And God forbid a shallow scratch should drive [3170]
The Prince of Wales from such a field as this,
Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,[3171]
And rebels' arms triumph in massacres!

Lan. We breathe too long: come, cousin Westmoreland,15
Our duty this way lies; for God's sake, come.

Prince. By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster;[3170]
I did not think thee lord of such a spirit:
Before, I loved thee as a brother, John;
But now, I do respect thee as my soul.20

King. I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point
With lustier maintenance than I did look for
Of such an ungrown warrior.

Prince. O, this boy [3173]
Lends mettle to us all![3173] [Exit.

Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads:25
I am the Douglas, fatal to all those
That wear those colours on them: what art thou,
That counterfeit'st the person of a king?

K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves at heart
So many of his shadows thou hast met30
And not the very king. I have two boys
Seek Percy and thyself about the field:
But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,
I will assay thee: so, defend thyself.[3175]

Doug. I fear thou art another counterfeit;35
And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:
But mine I am sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,
And thus I win thee.

Prince. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like [3177]
Never to hold it up again! the spirits40
Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:[3178]
It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee;[3179]
Who never promiseth but he means to pay.

Cheerly, my lord: how fares your grace?
Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent,45
And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight.

King. Stay, and breathe awhile:[3180]
Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion,[3181]
And show'd thou makest some tender of my life,
In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.50

Prince. O God! they did me too much injury [3182]
That ever said I hearken'd for your death.[3183]
If it were so, I might have let alone
The insulting hand of Douglas over you,
Which would have been as speedy in your end55
As all the poisonous potions in the world,
And saved the treacherous labour of your son.

King. Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey.[3184] [Exit.

Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.[3185]

Prince. Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.[3186]60

Hot. My name is Harry Percy.

Prince. Why, then I see [3187]
A very valiant rebel of the name.[3187][3188]
I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,
To share with me in glory any more:
Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;65
Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales.

Hot. Nor shall it, Harry; for the hour is come
To end the one of us; and would to God [3189]
Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!70

Prince. I'll make it greater ere I part from thee;
And all the budding honours on thy crest [3190]
I'll crop, to make a garland for my head.

Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities. [They fight.[3191]

Fal. Well said, Hal! to it, Hal! Nay, you shall find75
no boy's play here, I can tell you.

Re-enter Douglas; he fights with Falstaff, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit Douglas. Hotspur is wounded, and falls.[3192]

Hot. O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth![3193]
I better brook the loss of brittle life [3194]
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh:[3195]80
But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;[3196]
And time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,
But that the earthy and cold hand of death [3197]
Lies on my tongue: no, Percy, thou art dust,85
And food for— [Dies.

Prince. For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great heart![3198]
Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;90
But now two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough: this earth that bears thee dead [3199]
Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.
If thou wert sensible of courtesy,
I should not make so dear a show of zeal:[3200]95
But let my favours hide thy mangled face;[3201]
And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myself
For doing these fair rites of tenderness.[3202]
Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven!
Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,[3203]100
But not remember'd in thy epitaph!

What, old acquaintance! could not all this flesh
Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!
I could have better spared a better man:
O, I should have a heavy miss of thee,105
If I were much in love with vanity!
Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day,[3205]
Though many dearer, in this bloody fray.
Embowell'd will I see thee by and by:
Till then in blood by noble Percy lie. [Exit.110

Fal. [Rising up] Embowelled! if thou embowel me [3206]
to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me and eat me too
to-morrow. 'Sblood, 'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot [3207]
termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too. Counterfeit? I [3208]
lie, I am no counterfeit: to die, is to be a counterfeit; for[3208]115
he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of
a man: but to counterfeit dying, when a man thereby liveth,
is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of
life indeed. The better part of valour is discretion; in the
which better part I have saved my life. 'Zounds, I am [3209]120
afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead: how, if [3210]
he should counterfeit too, and rise? by my faith, I am [3211]
afraid he would prove the better counterfeit. Therefore
I'll make him sure; yea, and I'll swear I killed him. Why [3212]
may not he rise as well as I? Nothing confutes me but125
eyes, and nobody sees me. Therefore, sirrah [stabbing [3213]
him], with a new wound in your thigh, come you along [3214]
with me. [Takes up Hotspur on his back.

Prince. Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'd [3216]
Thy maiden sword.

Lan. But, soft! whom have we here?[3217]130
Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?

Prince. I did; I saw him dead,[3218]
Breathless and bleeding on the ground. Art thou alive?[3218][3219]
Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight?[3218]
I prithee, speak; we will not trust our eyes[3218]135
Without our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st.[3218]

Fal. No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if
I be not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy [3220]
[throwing the body down]: if your father will do me any [3221]
honour, so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. I [3222]140
look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you.

Prince. Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.[3223]

Fal. Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given [3224]
to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and
so was he: but we rose both at an instant, and fought a long145
hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may be believed, so; if not,
let them that should reward valour bear the sin upon their
own heads. I'll take it upon my death, I gave him this [3225]
wound in the thigh: if the man were alive, and would deny
it, 'zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.[3226]150

Lan. This is the strangest tale that ever I heard.[3227]

Prince. This is the strangest fellow, brother John.
Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:
For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,
I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.155

The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.[3229]
Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field,
To see what friends are living, who are dead.[3230]

Fal. I'll follow, as they say, for reward. He that rewards
me, God reward him! If I do grow great, I'll grow [3231]160
less; for I'll purge, and leave sack, and live cleanly as a
nobleman should do. [Exit.[3232]

Scene V. Another part of the field.

King. Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke.[3234]
Ill-spirited Worcester! did not we send grace,[3235]
Pardon and terms of love to all of you?
And wouldst thou turn our offers contrary?
Misuse the tenour of thy kinsman's trust?5
Three knights upon our party slain to-day,
A noble earl and many a creature else
Had been alive this hour,[3236]
If like a Christian thou hadst truly borne
Betwixt our armies true intelligence.10

Wor. What I have done my safety urged me to;
And I embrace this fortune patiently,
Since not to be avoided it falls on me.[3237]

King. Bear Worcester to the death, and Vernon too:[3238]
Other offenders we will pause upon.15

How goes the field?

Prince. The noble Scot, Lord Douglas, when he saw [3240]
The fortune of the day quite turn'd from him,[3241]
The noble Percy slain, and all his men
Upon the foot of fear, fled with the rest;20
And falling from a hill, he was so bruised
That the pursuers took him. At my tent
The Douglas is; and I beseech your grace
I may dispose of him.

King. With all my heart.

Prince. Then, brother John of Lancaster, to you [3242]25
This honourable bounty shall belong:[3242]
Go to the Douglas, and deliver him
Up to his pleasure, ransomless and free:
His valour shown upon our crests to-day [3243]
Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds[3243][3244]30
Even in the bosom of our adversaries.

Lan. I thank your grace for this high courtesy,[3245]
Which I shall give away immediately.[3245][3246]

King. Then this remains, that we divide our power.
You, son John, and my cousin Westmoreland35
Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed,[3247]
To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scroop,[3248]
Who, as we hear, are busily in arms:
Myself and you, son Harry, will towards Wales,[3249]
To fight with Glendower and the Earl of March.40
Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway,[3250]
Meeting the check of such another day:
And since this business so fair is done,[3251]
Let us not leave till all our own be won. [Exeunt.

Scene IV. Another part of the field.

Scene V. Another part of the field.